Taxis, buses, bicyclists, and anonymous green and black cabs vie for the relatively meager amount of asphalt on the island of Manhattan. In the city where even executives arrive at meetings via underground subway passages—or by private helicopter—it takes a lot to get noticed.

None of that really matters, however, when you arrive in a Rolls-Royce.

That's what we learned when we had the chance to pilot Rolls-Royce's recently updated Ghost limousine for several days earlier this spring. Pedestrians can't help but turn their heads when the V-12-powered, 563-hp Ghost wafts by, ever so silently but with the presence of a penthouse apartment. It's a point of discussion. It draws much staring. It's a drivable objet d'art.

Best of all, if the opportunity arises to borrow a Ghost, you'll enjoy driving it as much as you will being a passenger. In a world where Rolls-Royce refers to its cars' back seats as "rear compartments," there is still joy in being driven in a hand-assembled Ghost. But that V-12 does more than provide effortless power: It hauls.